Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Ted Williams / Senators

Yesterday was Ted Williams birthday. There are only a handful of players in baseball history that can compare to "Teddy Ballgame".

He played the vast majority his entire 21-year big league career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Of the 2152 games he played during his career (1984 games in left and 169 in right), only once did he play a non-outfield position. On August 24th, 1940 he pitched the final two innings of 12-1 loss to the Tigers.

His best year as a player was 1941, when he hit .406 with 37 HR, 120 RBI, and 135 runs scored. It is the last time a big league player hit .400 and Ted Williams did not win the MVP award that year, losing to Joe DiMaggio and his 56 game hitting streak.

Twice during his career (World War II and Korea) he left baseball in service to the country as a Marine Corps pilot. He lost almost five peak years out of the heart of a great baseball career, significantly limiting what his career totals could have been. In the end, Williams was a 19-time all star, two-time American League MVP winner, he led the league in batting six times, and won the Triple Crown twice. He finished with a career batting average of .344, with 521 home runs (at the time ranked #3). His career batting average is the highest of any player who played his entire career in the live-ball era following 1920. He was a first ballot inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1966.

After he retired, Ted Williams was quoted as saying "You couldn't pay me enough to manage". Rumor has it he twice turned down offers to manage the Boston Red Sox. However, a few weeks before 1969 spring training was scheduled to start the lowly Washington Senators announced the hiring of Ted Williams as their latest manager. Many thought the move as a desperate attempt by the Senators to gain local attention away from the Redskins hiring Vince Lombardi. Whatever the motivation, it certainly increased local curiosity and was a breath of fresh air for the morbid franchise.

Often called the "greatest hitter who ever lived" Williams' fanatic approach to hitting helped improve the Senators offense considerably. The power was supplied by slugger Frank Howard's 48 home runs and the team batting average jumped from .224 in 1968 to .251 in 1969. His leadership inspired the second iteration of the Senators to the only winning season during its 10-year stay in Washington. For this remarkable turnaround, Williams was voted American League Manager of the Year. This is the only baseball award that Ted Williams had ever won and his rival Joe DiMaggio had not.

He spent the next three seasons (two in Washington and one in Texas) trying to capitalize on that first year success, but the ball-clubs did not respond. In 1972, after losing 100 games and recording the worst record in baseball the Rangers (their inaugural season in Texas) let him go at the end of the season.

When he announced his departure he said "I am going fishing."

Photo of the Game: 131/162

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Tug 7-UP commercial

Not sure there can ever be a better "pitch man" than Tug McGraw. Love the "World Champions" warm-up jacket he is wearing here. Believe it or not, you can buy one just like it at Mitchell & Ness.

Happy Tug McGraw Day !!

Tug would have turned 67 today. In his honor, I went to the Tug McGraw Foundation website and purchased a handful of these YGB45 bracelets to give to my nephews. You should do the same.

Semper Fi Tugger!

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DAHOF Facebook page

Do you like this blog? Are you a Facebook user?

I am pleased to announce that the Dick Allen Hall of Fame has it's own Facebook community page. In the next couple of days I will be trying to figure out how to seamlessly integrate the content I create here on the blog and make it appear correctly on the facebook page.

In the meantime... if you are a Facebook user come on by and LIKE us.

On this day.... Duane Kuiper goes deep

August 29th, 1977. After four seasons and 1,382 major league at-bats, Indian's second baseman Duane Kuiper hits a sinking line drive over the right field fence off Chicago starter Steve Stone for a first inning home run, helping Cleveland to a 9-2 win over the White Sox. Kuiper will come to bat 3,379 times in his 12 year career and finish with one career home run.

1987 Bull Blast: Allen vs. Luzinski HR Derby

Yesterday I found this YouTube video of a short snipet of a HR Derby held in 1987 at the Vet. The "Bull Blast" was an annual event held in between games of a doubleheader and featured former Phil Greg Luzinski going up against someone to raise money for charity. In 1987 he teamed up with his former teammate, Dick Allen. As you watch this, keep in mind it had been more than 10 years since Dick Allen played in his last big league game (1977).

Cards That Never Were: 1976 Dick Allen Atlanta Braves

On December 3, 1974 the Chicago White Sox sold the "retired" Dick Allen to the Atlanta Braves for $5000 and a player to be named later. This card never existed because Allen refused to even consider playing for the Braves.

From his autobiography CRASH:

But before I could think about playing for the Phillies, there was the little matter of who owned me - or who thought they owned me. When I left the Sox, I never did turn in an official retirement letter to the American League. I never did believe in messing with unnecessary paperwork. So what did the Sox do? Sold me to the Atlanta Braves - and for chump change, about five grand. When I heard that, I called Roland Hemond, the general manager of the White Sox, and told him I was giving some thought to playing again. Would the Sox be interested? He said "Good to hear you want to play, Dick. You'll like Atlanta."

He continues:

I made up my mind about Atlanta real quick - I wasn't going. No southern hospitality for me. Not after what I had been through in Florida during my early spring training years - all those springs having to stay in run-down boarding houses and eating in separate restaurants. And all I had been through in Little Rock. I had also heard that Clyde King, the manager of the Braves and native Southerner, was not what you'd call an equal opportunity employer. Atlanta just wasn't for me. Look what Atlanta had done to Henry Aaron, the greatest home run hitter of all time. People forget it now, but when Aaron was going for those 715 master-blasters there were people rooting against him in his own home ballpark! Henry Aaron. Baseball's most distinguished gentleman. I could just imagine what they'd have in store for me.

The White Sox, Braves, and Phillies eventually worked something out in May of 1975.
The net result for each team was:
White Sox: Jim Essian and $5K
Braves: Barry Bonnell and $150K
Phillies: Dick Allen and Johnny Oates

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Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Willie McCovey / Athletics

This particular FF/SP card has been on my "to do" list for some time. Unfortunately there just wasn't any color images of McCovey in an A's uniform readily available. Luckily I found a couple of nice black and white images and colorized this one.

Willie McCovey originally signed with the New York Giants in 1955. He never got to play in New York because his Giants left Manhattan for San Francisco before he made it to the majors.

Nicknamed "Strech" because of his outstanding defensive abilities at first base, McCovey made a historic debut on July 30th, 1959 against the Phillies and future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts. He went 4-4 with two triples, he instantly became a fan favorite in San Francisco en route to winning the 1959 Rookie of the Year Award. Imagine that, he played his first major league game on July 30th and ended up winning the Rookie of the Year award?

Fast forward 15 seasons, six all star games, and one MVP award later -- McCovey's Hall of Fame career was starting to wind down. Following the 1973 season, the financially challenged Giants dealt McCovey to the expansion San Diego Padres for a pitching prospect named Mike Caldwell. At the time, McCovey was still a productive player and he immediately became the first recognizable star in the Padres short history. McCovey played most of three seasons in San Diego and hit 52 of his career 521 home runs and two of his NL record 18 grand slams while wearing the brown and gold. Creating a Willie FF/SP card with a Padres uniform would be redundant and I could never hope to match the incredible airbrushing expertise by Topps (cough, cough, cough).

Near the end of the 1976 season the Padres returned Stretch to the Bay Area, selling him to the hated cross-town Oakland Athletics. That strange marriage would not last long as he would only play in 11 games for the A's and was released at the end of the season.

Looking for work for the first time since 1955, McCovey was invited by new Giants ownership to make the team at spring training camp in 1977. He responded with a 28-homer, 86-RBI comeback at the age of 39. He played the final three and half seasons back home in San Francisco and hit his 500th home run in 1978. His final home run (# 521) came on May 3rd, 1980 - it tied him with Ted Williams at #10 on the all time list. He also joined Williams on the list of big leaguers (Ricky Henderson and Omar Vizquel were added later) who had homered in four different decades. He played his last game two months later and retired to make way for a new Giants phenom named Rich Murray during the All Star break of the 1980 season.

In 1986 Willie McCovey became the 16th player elected to Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility.

Happy Rollie Fingers Day

Rollie Fingers turns 65 today. Best known for his signature handlebar mustache (which he first grew to collect a $300 bonus from Charlie Finley) he also had the opportunity to wear some of the best uniform color combinations in MLB history. Happy Birthday Rollie!

On this day.... Gregg Jefferies hits for the cycle and becomes a Dad

August 25th, 1995. In a game against the Dodgers at Veterans Stadium, Gregg Jefferies becomes the first Phillie in 32 years to hit for the cycle. Jefferies hits a home run, triple, double and single in his first four at-bats. Each of his extra-base hits come off Dodgers starting pitcher, Hideo Nomo. He also collected four RBIs and scored four runs as his Phillies crush the Dodgers, 17-4. Jefferies is not the only Phillie to swing a hot bat, the team banged out 21 hits including a grand slam by starter Jeff Juden.

He becomes the first (and only) Phils player to accomplish this very rare feat in Veterans Stadium history. The last Phillies' cycle came from Johnny Callison on June 27, 1963, against the Pirates at Forbes Field.

At the time, Jefferies' cycle was the 210th in baseball history, making it even more rare than a no hitter (at the time there had been 216 no-no's). Recent history has seen an upswing in this offensive oddity... as of today there have been 291 cycles in MLB history and 272 no-hitters.

During the game, his wife goes into labor and they both leave the stadium as soon as the game is complete. The next day, Jefferies also becomes the first player to sit out the game following a cycle because he spent the next day at the hospital with his wife as she delivered a newborn daughter.

Photo of the Game: 128/162

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Photo of the Game: 127/162

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Photo of the game: 126/162

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Photo of the Game: 125/162

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Cardinals at Expos - April 8th, 1970

This morning I re-discovered why I love the internet. By chance, I happened to find a great baseball gallery on a Flickr page provided by the Archives from the City of Montreal.

This galley contains 57 black and white images from the 1970 Expos home opener played at Jarry Park. It was the Expos second season of existence. Most of the images focus on the tiny ballpark (several of which you can see snow in the background) and the obviously cold Montreal fans. However, there are a few nice shots of recognizable players like Bob Gibson, Rusty Staub, and Dick Allen with Joe Torre standing on deck.

Of course I could not resist looking this game up on RETROSHEET and happily discovered that Dick Allen, playing in his first game as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, collected three hits and drove in three runs. He also smacked the first HR of the season in the eighth inning off of Expos starter Bill Stoneman. The Cardinals won the game 7-2 with Bob Gibson collecting the win after throwing eight complete innings. Based on the image order it appears there is an image from Allen's first cardinal ab (he struck out to end the first inning) and the image I have posted above is from his second at bat (a double to lead off the fourth inning).

Photo of the Game: 124/162

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On this day.... Davey Lopes

August, 20th, 1974. During a 18-8 rout of the Cubs in Wrigley Field, the Los Angeles Dodgers collect 24 hits and set a club record with 48 total bases.

The Dodgers were paced by second baseman Davey Lopes' three home runs, double and single. At the time, Lopes was only hitting .261 and had hit 3 total home runs for the season. His 15 total bases set an MLB record for a leadoff hitter. This was the first of two career five hit games for Lopes. His only other five hit game will come also at Wrigley Field 12 years later, expect this time as the leadoff hitter for Cubs.

The 1974 Dodgers would go on to win 102 games and capture the NL West by 4 games over the two time defending division champion Cincinnati Reds. They beat the Pirates in the NLCS but lost the World Series 4 games to 1 to Charlie Finley's Oakland dynasty. It was the third straight World Championship for the Athletics.

Photo of the Game: 123/162

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Photo of the Game: 122/162

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Happy Roberto Clemente Day

Today would have been Roberto Clemente's 77th birthday. I was too young to remember seeing him play live, but from what I have seen on highlights and read about him, he was a very special man.

Photo of the Game: 121/162

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Photo of the game: 120/162

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Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Mark Fidrych / Red Sox

Yesterday would have been Mark Fidrych's 57th birthday. For those of you too young to remember "The Bird" -- he was one of the brightest and fastest burning stars in Major League history.

Invited to spring training in 1976 as a non-roster invitee, Mark made his debut on April 20th in Oakland. He faced one batter (Don Baylor) in the bottom of the ninth and gave up the game winning walk off single. Within a month Fidrych was the talk of baseball and led the major leagues with a 2.34 ERA, won the AL Rookie of the Year award, and finished with a 19-9 record. He was nicknamed "The Bird" as a minor leaguer because of his resemblance to the "Big Bird" character of the 1970s TV show Sesame Street.

He had a larger than life personality and his quirky antics on the field made him an immediate fan favorite. He would get down on his hands and knees to "manicure the mound", talk to himself, talk to the ball, aim the ball like a dart, strut around the mound after every out, and throw back balls that "had hits in them," insisting they be removed from the game. Mark Fidrych also was known for shaking everyone's hands after a game. Attendance at Tigers games soared when Fidrych pitched. In his 18 appearances, home attendance equaled almost half of the entire season's 81 home games. When they were on the road, teams started asking Detroit to change its pitching rotation so Fidrych could pitch in their ballparks.

He was the starting pitcher for the 1976 All Star game and finished second in the Cy Young voting (behind Jim Palmer). But his big league success was short lived. He injured his knee during spring training of 1977. After returning he felt his arm and shoulder shoulder "go dead". Nobody recognized it as a torn rotator cuff, and his big league career was a distant memory when it was finally properly diagnosed in 1985.

He continued to pitch through the injury and played well enough to be selected for the 1977 All Star game, but he declined to attend because of the injury. He made just three appearances in 1978, winning two games, but the magic was gone. He made nine starts in his final season (1980) before the Tigers released him in October in 1981.

He signed with the Boston Red Sox in February of 1982 and spent parts of two seasons pitching for their AAA team in Pawtucket, but he never got the call back the majors. His final season (1983) he finished with a 2-5 record with a 9.68 ERA.

Mark Fidrych died in April of 2009 while he was working on his 10-wheeled dump truck in his driveway. He was 54 at the time of his death. On June 19, 2009, his daughter Jessica honored her father at Comerica Park by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after she "manicured the mound".

On this day.... Terry Mulholland's No-Hitter

Hard to believe it has been 21 years since Terry Mulholland no-hit the Giants. He faced the minimum number of hitters and was a Charlie Hayes throwing error away from a perfect game. It was the first Phillies no-no since Rick Wise's gem in 1971 and it was the first real no-hitter in Veterans Stadium history. It was also the record eighth no-hitter thrown in the majors that season.

Most importantly, as a Phan it was one of the biggest moments of a very dismal period of Philadelphia Phillies baseball. I remember cutting out the newspaper story and putting it in a frame to hang in my not yet born son's room. I like to think this event helped establish a core foundation for the 1993 National League Pennant.

From the New York Times:

Phillies' Mulholland Pitches Season's 8th No-Hitter

Terry Mulholland pitched the record eighth no-hitter of the season tonight as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-0.

The season's eighth no-hitter surpassed the modern record of seven set in 1917 and 1908. Mulholland's no-hitter was the first this century by a Phillies' pitcher in Philadelphia, and was also the first nine-inning no-hitter pitched in the 20 seasons the Phillies have played at Veterans Stadium.

Only one batter reached base against Mulholland. Rick Parker reached on a throwing error by Charlie Hayes, the Philadelphia third baseman, to lead off the seventh inning. He was erased on a double play.

Mulholland finished the no-hitter in the ninth by retiring Bill Bathe, a pinch-hitter, and Jose Uribe on grounders and getting the pinch-hitter Gary Carter on a line drive to Hayes. ''You can't realize what went through my mind when he caught that ball,'' Mulholland said. ''It was such a rush of emotion. I'm not usually an emotional guy, but I knew the significance of that.''

Acquired From San Francisco Mulholland (7-6) came to the Phillies last season from the Giants in the trade for Steve Bedrosian, a reliever.

The only other no-hitter in Veterans Stadium was by Pascual Perez of Montreal on Sept. 24, 1988, a game shortened to five innings by rain.

The first no-hitter this season was pitched on April 11 when Mark Langston and Mike Witt of California combined to beat Seattle. Randy Johnson then pitched the first no-hitter in Seattle history, beating Detroit on June 2.

Nolan Ryan pitched his unprecedented sixth no-hitter to beat Oakland on June 11. Dave Stewart of Oakland and Fernando Valenzuela of Los Angeles made baseball history on June 29 by pitching no-hitters on the same day in each league.

Less than 24 hours later, Andy Hawkins of the Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on July 1, but lost, 4-0.

On July 12, Melido Perez of the Chicago White Sox, the brother of Pascual, pitched the record-tying seventh no-hitter of the season, a rain-shortened six-inning victory at Yankee Stadium.

Mulholland was acquired by the Phillies along with Hayes and Dennis Cook, a pitcher, for Bedrosian on June 18, 1989. Mulholland struck out eight and walked none. The Phillies made it 4-0 in the fifth on a one-out single by Dickie Thon and Len Dykstra's double. Darren Daulton then hit his 10th home run of the season.

The Phillies added two runs in the sixth on run-scoring singles by Hayes and Mulholland.

Familiar Faces / Strange Places: John Kruk / White Sox

Continuing with this weekend's John Kruk theme.

John Kruk was drafted out of his native West Virginia in the 3rd round of the 1981 draft by the San Diego Padres. He played five seasons in the Padres minor league system before making his big league debut as a ninth inning pinch runner for Steve Garvey on opening day 1986 against the Dodgers. He was promptly thrown out by Mike Scioscia trying to steal second.

In 1987, playing for Padres manager Larry Bowa he hit .313 with 20 home runs and 91 RBI, and stole 18 bases. On April 13, 1987, Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn, and Kruk became the first players in MLB history to open a game with three consecutive home runs.

After struggling at the start of the 1989 season, he was traded to the Phillies on June 2nd -- less than a week after Mike Schmidt's mid-season retirement. Kruk quickly became an solid contributor in Philadelphia, making the NL All Star team in 1991, 1992, and 1993. His '93 all star appearance included a memorable and humorous strike out against Randy Johnson.

The 1993 Phillies shocked the baseball world as they rolled through the season spending all but one day in first place in the NL East. Kruk played a big role on that team, on the field with his .905 OPS and in the fun loving clubhouse. The '93 Phils beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, but lost in heart-breaking fashion to the Toronto Blue Jays on Joe Carter's memorable walk off home run in Game 6 off of Mitch Williams.

During spring training in 1994, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer discovered after an errant pickoff throw from teammate Mitch Williams hit him in the groin and broke his protective cup. After only got two at bats in spring training before the diagnosis, he was activated for the Phillies 1994 home opener, and dramatically delivered three hits after he received a radiation treatment.

In his book "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady..." Kruk has this to say about his friend and teammate Mitch Williams:

In my book, he's a hero. I never thought I'd say it, but now I couldn't be happier that Mitch made that throw. What can you say when the best thing that ever happened to you is getting hit in the nuts?

From now on, when I think about Mitch Williams, I won't think about those blown saves in the World Series. Turns out he was responsible for the biggest save of my life.

Following the 1994 strike cancelled season Kruk realized he needed to become a designated hitter to continue his career and signed with the Chicago White Sox. He played well but never really found his groove in Chicago. On July 30, 1995 Kruk singled in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles and took himself out of the game (after the end of the inning). He left Camden Yards and never played baseball again. He finished his 10-year career with exactly a .300 batting average and exactly 100 home runs.

Photo of the game: 119/162

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John Kruk - 2011 Phillies Wall of Fame

The Phillies honored former player John Kruk last night, inducting him into the PHILLIES WALL OF FAME as part of their annual "alumni weekend" festivities. This event has become one of my favorite parts of the long baseball season. In this single image you can see (going left to right) Dallas Green's back, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Dick Allen, Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox, Tony Taylor, and Bob Boone.

As expected, John Kruk was both funny and effective during his speech, here is a video:


Kruk has always been one of my favorites, even when he played for the San Diego Padres and later the White Sox. That unexpected 1993 pennant season was a lot of fun to watch from start to finish and still holds some great memories for me. His induction is well deserved and inspired me to make a special John Kruk wallpaper.

Photo of the Game: 118/162

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Photo of the Game: 117/162

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On this day.... hit #3631

It was 30 years ago today (August 10, 1981) Pete Rose broke Stan Musial's National League hit record.

It was the first game after the players return from a seven-week strike. When the season was suspended in mid-June , Pete Rose was in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak and led the NL with 73 hits. When play resumed a capacity crowd at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia waited until the eighth inning to see Rose lead off with a single between third base and shortstop off of Cardinals reliever Mark Littel. The game was halted as the crowd delivered a standing ovation and Stan the Man went out to first base to offer his congratulations. The Phillies lost the game 7-3.

After the game, President Ronald Reagan wanted to call Pete...

Photo of the game: 116/162

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Submitted without comment

Photo of the game: 115/162

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Who wears short shorts?

It was 35 years ago today the White Sox first wore shorts in a real major league game.

On December 10, 1975, former Sox owner and baseball promotion king Bill Veeck regained ownership of the team. At the time he vowed to make the White Sox an exciting team again. Besides his customary promotions, Veeck tried to peek interest in the club when he introduced retro throwback uniforms and shorts. It did not help, as the 1976 team was one of the worst White Sox teams ever... winning only 64 games (against 97 losses) amd drawing fewer than 915,000 fans.

The "Sox shorts" were only worn three times and the club won two of those games. The first time was during the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals at Comiskey Park on August 8, 1976. The Sox won that game 5-2. Surprisingly (considering they were wearing shorts) five different players successfully stole bases during this game (Jerry Hairston, Pat Kelly, Jorge Orta, Jack Brohamer, and Jim Essian).

This was one of two stolen bases for Essian in the 1976 season... who ended his career with a total of nine SBs. The Sox put on their long pants for the second game of the double-header and promptly lost 7-1.

The shorts also showed up a couple of weeks later for two home games against the Baltimore Orioles. On August 21st they beat the O's 11-10 in 12 innings and on August 22nd they lost the front end of a double header 6-2. Interesting enough, Jim Essian apparently enjoyed the element of surprise gained while he was wearing the shorts, because he stole his second (and final) base of the season in this game.

As I was looking for details on the 1976 White Sox shorts, I found this home-video from the last "shorts" game ever, against the Orioles (started by lefty Ken Kravec). This video brings back some great memories of old Comiskey Park, including the shower in centerfield. There are a lot of recognizable players for an old guy like me, including: Chet Lemon standing in the batters box as Kravec warms up, Pat Kelly in left field, a little later into the file you see a walk by Oriole's outfielder Ken Singleton, and (at the 3:43 mark) the ninth inning grand slam by Reggie Jackson. In classic Reggie fashion, he watches the ball fly over the right center field fence before he leaves the batters box.

Edit: I found an old newspaper article about the first "shorts" game, including a pretty funny quote by John Mayberry. Ralph Garr made it to first base a couple of times during this game, but Mayberry never gave him the kiss.

Photo of the Game: 114/162

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Photo of the game: 113/162

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Photo of the game: 112/162

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Minor stars: Hunter Pence x2

It has been a while since I have made a Minor Stars post. With the excitement surrounding Hunter Pence wearing a Phillies uniform -- I thought it might be fun to show off a couple of images I made of him as he was working his way through the Astros minor league system.

Hunter spent all of 2006 with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks. He finished the season with a .890 OPS, hit 28 home runs and drove in 95 runs. That season he was selected to play in the mid-season All Star Futures Game. He was also selected by Baseball America as a Minor League All-Star and named to the Arizona Fall League All-Prospect Team.

In 2007, after he made a serious run at making the ML roster in spring training, Pence started the season as a member of the AAA Round Rock Express. His time in the Pacific Coast League was short lived, after 25 games he was called up to Houston.